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The Long Shadow
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The Long Shadow
In Denver’s Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods, an area largely made up of working-class Latino families, some residents are worried about the impact of the $1.2 billion Central 70 construction project. The massive construction project runs through the heart of the country’s most polluted urban zip code. The city’s 2014 Health of Denver Report notes elevated rates of asthma-related emergency room visits in 2011-2012 for children and youths living in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. Many residents who live close to the Central 70 work area are concerned about medical issues, like asthma, which may be exacerbated by construction dust and diesel exhaust during the four years of construction on the project. Scientists at National Jewish Health in Denver, working with families in the neighborhood, continue to uncover links between diesel exhaust and asthma.
"There are some nights you don't even sleep because you are just watching over them," says Nancy Santos, mother of Annabel Rodriguez-Santos. Annabel, 8, lies in bed after a long night of getting little sleep. Annabel had an asthma attack during the night. Both Annabel and her older sister suffer from childhood asthma. The family lives in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, only a few blocks from the construction on the Central 70 project.
Annabel Rodriguez-Santos, 8, looks out the window at her home, in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, only a few blocks from the construction on the Central 70 project. Annabel's mother had her stay home from school that day because it was field day and she was scared it would trigger her asthma. "If Annabel gets sick, we have no (medication) until Monday because I am having trouble with Medicaid," said Annabel's mother Nancy Santos.
Bettie Cram, 96, has been advocating against the Central 70 project, but now that the project is underway, she’s being encouraged to move on with her life by her daughter. Cram has lived in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood for 75 years. She is worried about unintended health impacts the construction could have on children in the neighborhood. "It sounds like a lost cause," Cram’s daughter who lives in Florida recently told her over the phone.
According to a 2017 study from ATTOM Data Soulutions, Elyria-Swansea, Globeville and part of the River North neighborhood, all part of the 80216 zip code, are at the highest “environmental hazard housing risk” of more than 8,600 zips codes nationwide.
Yadira Sanchez has three kids with asthma, in addition to having breathing issues herself. She finds it hard to juggle doctor appointments. Sanchez lives much of her life in the shadow cast from an elevated section of Interstate 70 outside her family’s restaurant, Panaderia Sanchez. The restaurant is only a few hundred feet from Interstate 70, where construction is taking place, and where she sells Mexican goods outside to her neighbors.
"It feels like a snake wrapped around your chest," said Olivia Sanchez, 13, talking about how it feels when she has an asthma attack.
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The Long Shadow
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Credits:
Photography and Video by RJ Sangosti
Photo Editing by Patrick Traylor and Katie Rausch
Executive Editor Lee Ann Colacioppo
Development by Chris Brubaker
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